Best Days We'll Never Know

Growing a Mustache vs. Growing a Pair

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"No no no." Mario says sternly, pulling Luigi away from the desk. "You're not sleeping there. I forbid it."

Luigi smiles as he lets Mario lead him to his bed.

"In fact, I forbid you from waking up until I think you've slept enough." Mario declares, shoving him gently to make him fall off the bed.

"Oh yeah?" Luigi challenges. "What else can't I do?"

Grinning, Mario plays along, "No midnight snacks. You'll get nightmares and crawl into my bed like a weirdo."

"What am I, 5?" Luigi whines tiredly.

"No messing with my sock drawer. I like it how it is."

"One time!"

"And the last time!"

"I don't care if it is Destiny del Vecchio—no late-night booty calls."

"Hey!" That one makes Luigi sit up. "She liked me!"

"No debating pigeons. They win, every time."

Luigi throws a pillow at Mario, who laughs.

"Fine, debate the birds. You're an adult. But don't come crying to me when they make you cry."

Mario looks, and Luigi's already slumping over, so he gently moves him to lay back on his pillow, and heads to his own bed.

"G'night Weegee."

But instead of going to bed, he pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through it.

Which turns out to be a big mistake, seeing all of Pauline's pictures at Cornell.

Frustrated, he throws his phone down on his bed, and closes his eyes, hoping the universe will let him sleep.

But apparently he does, because when Luigi wakes up early the next morning, Mario's snoring away, so Luigi quietly gets out of bed.

However, upon seeing Mario's phone, he picks it up to put it on the nightstand, but when he accidentally turns it on, he sees all the pictures of Pauline.

Immediately, he looks at Mario, saddened.

"Aw, Mario..."

"Weegee?"

Luigi pauses his crying on the living room couch to look up, seeing Uncle Tony walk in from who knows where.

"You okay?"

"Me? I'm all aces." Luigi says sarcastically.

"No you're not." Uncle Tony's suddenly sitting next to him on the couch. "What's wrong?"

"Besides Mario not getting the life he always wanted because he's stuck with me? Not a thing." There's no bite to it this time.

"Hey." Uncle Tony makes him look at him. "I know that's what you think, but I promise, it's not true."

"How would you know?" Luigi asks.

"Because me and your uncle Arthur went through this whole song and dance long before you two were even born, that's how."

Luigi looks up, intrigued. "Really?"

"You bet." Uncle Tony nods. "Everyone talks about twins having a bond that makes them closer than average siblings, and that's true for us. It's true for you and Mario too."

Luigi nods, not denying it.

"But not everyone talks about the bond when something like this happens. You start to think the bond is a curse, thinking your brother's stuck with you because of it. You start to wonder if he'd be better off without you. Because even now, in the face of all this, his happiness still means everything to you."